MONITORS - WHAT are you using

LASTOLITE

LASTOLITE

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Bill
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After reading many search results here, I am finding many people are reporting manufacturer experiences coupled with good enough or better than my cheapo monitor I used to use, comments.

I am after a mid range monitor for photo editing, I would like it to be a none reflective screen with ability to calibrate correctly to adobe standard.

I will be using it on a PC and will be using it for video editing also at some stage - so maybe a pair of 24's would be ideal -

I have been put off DELL by a mates bad experience and been directed to The ASUS proart ips panel http://www.scan.co.uk/products/241-asus-pa248q-ips-led-monitor-full-hd-vga-dvi-d-hdmi-dp-1920x1200-300cd-m2-80m1-6ms-black?utm_source=google+shopping&utm_medium=google+shopping


Anyone use this panel or have a better option or any advise, Ive gotten a bit bogged down in specs of panel types and bit depths......result cant see the wood for the trees so need some fresh perspective :shrug:


Thanks in advance
 
I use 2x Dell U2410s. What bad experience did your mate have?
 
Get an IPS screen far better than "normal" types. I have a Dell Ultra Sharp U2313HM and it won't need to do any calibration.
OK so whats so different about an IPS screen? well most monitors use a mixture of the three colours and guess the nearest match for eack pixel. An IPS monitor fires the right single colour at a pixel. Also the way it is made means that from whatever angle you look at it it remains the same, others if you look at them sideways it goes dark at one end.

Link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWXcNlh85Ps

Realspeed
 
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arad85 said:
I use 2x Dell U2410s. What bad experience did your mate have?
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He had to fight for warranty support - when the monitors were sold with 3 year on site....

I dont want to debate this though, just need to know what others are using in the real world.

I keep on coming back to the same 24 inch panel though - DELL 2410 seems to be a sweet spot in price / performance / ability and recommendation:bonk:


Must I relent....

Where did you all buy from and did they have a 3 year on site warranty?


Thanks again for the input - I am not usually full of hesitation tbh but this has me at a disadvantage - If my mate had had no issue with warranty it would have been plain sailing - I also read some have issues with ASUS warranty too so its a crap shoot whatever you buy it would seem:shrug:


TA!
 
Got mine from Amazon, Dell state a 3 year warranty so im certain Amazon would sort any problems should they arise
 
LASTOLITE said:
Where did you all buy from and did they have a 3 year on site warranty?
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Ebay. I have had both replaced (due to them locking up when I had two different computers connected - must have been a firmware problem - I've avoided connecting 2 PCs at once since ;)). Dell warranty was fine for me. What they needed from me was the 9 digit Dell Works Order number.

I do have an issue with one of them - I have what looks like a slight watermark on one of the panels. A google does show this to be a fault - I'm waiting to close to 3 years before trying to get a replacement. I do use mine an awful lot though. They are probably on 10+ hours a day (yes, I am that sad that I sit in front of a PC for 10+ hours a day....)
 
arad85 said:
Ebay. I have had both replaced (due to them locking up when I had two different computers connected - must have been a firmware problem - I've avoided connecting 2 PCs at once since ;)). Dell warranty was fine for me. What they needed from me was the 9 digit Dell Works Order number.

I do have an issue with one of them - I have what looks like a slight watermark on one of the panels. A google does show this to be a fault - I'm waiting to close to 3 years before trying to get a replacement. I do use mine an awful lot though. They are probably on 10+ hours a day (yes, I am that sad that I sit in front of a PC for 10+ hours a day....)
Click to expand...


Andy - thats the real world experience I need, and it seems this works number is the key to the 3 year warranty.....:thumbs:


Thanks to everyone else too - info is great - keep it coming, its a good resource for others, after all it seems to be a frequently asked question on the net...
 
Dell 2408WFP here. Had an issue with the first one, then hassles trying to swap it out. It has issues with the DVI ports going on the blink/failing, but I'm waiting for the warranty to be close to running out, as mine is cosmetically perfect, and any replacement will be some random refurb with no guarentees on cosmetic condition.
 
realspeed said:
Get an IPS screen far better than "normal" types. I have a Dell Ultra Sharp U2313HM and it won't need to do any calibration.
OK so whats so different about an IPS screen? well most monitors use a mixture of the three colours and guess the nearest match for eack pixel. An IPS monitor fires the right single colour at a pixel. Also the way it is made means that from whatever angle you look at it it remains the same, others if you look at them sideways it goes dark at one end.

Link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWXcNlh85Ps

Realspeed
Click to expand...

It will need calibrating to keep it accurate. Plus it is not just the monitor, the ambient light in the room makes a difference to how you see colours as well.
 
A lot depends on the graphics card in the computer, the one with the motherboard I have found just isn't up to the job on either of my other 2 computers.

I agree Mark with what he says about calibration as far as he goes using what comes with a computer.

However having a purpose built computer with each component specially researched and chosen especially for photography I stand by what I originally said about calibration it is not necessary if you take the steps I did. For example the graphics card from Scan computers cost around £170 (MSI GTX 560Ti twin frozen11, item no LN37607) if anyone is interested. I even went into which intel processor was best for my video as well as stills work. The Intel i5 is supposed to be ok for stills but not for video as well so I went for the Intel i7 (LN 41754 @ £251).

As you can start to see a lot of work went into getting each component as I said ,those 2 items alone came to approx £420 and you could have bought a computer for that. The total build was well into four figures and that was again a self build, heavens knows what it would have cost to be professionally built, I hate to think.

So going back to my original statement, if you have the right computer with the right components in it there is no need for calibration or at least that is what I found

Have to say my son actually did the build and I didn't realise how many bits went into it. Cooling alone took 5 fans. So got 3 to sell if anyone wants them
Realspeed
 
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realspeed said:
A lot depends on the graphics card in the computer, the one with the motherboard I have found just isn't up to the job on either of my other 2 computers.

I agree Mark with what he says about calibration as far as he goes using what comes with a computer.

However having a purpose built computer with each component specially researched and chosen especially for photography I stand by what I originally said about calibration it is not necessary if you take the steps I did. For example the graphics card from Scan computers cost around £170 (MSI GTX 560Ti twin frozen11, item no LN37607) if anyone is interested. I even went into which intel processor was best for my video as well as stills work. The Intel i5 is supposed to be ok for stills but not for video as well so I went for the Intel i7 (LN 41754 @ £251).

As you can start to see a lot of work went into getting each component as I said ,those 2 items alone came to approx £420 and you could have bought a computer for that. The total build was well into four figures and that was again a self build, heavens knows what it would have cost to be professionally built, I hate to think.

So going back to my original statement, if you have the right computer with the right components in it there is no need for calibration or at least that is what I found

Realspeed
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there is always the need for calibration. has no baring on what components or screens you use, screens will always slip out of 100% accuracy over time.
 
realspeed said:
A lot depends on the graphics card in the computer, the one with the motherboard I have found just isn't up to the job on either of my other 2 computers.

I agree Mark with what he says about calibration as far as he goes using what comes with a computer.

However having a purpose built computer with each component specially researched and chosen especially for photography I stand by what I originally said about calibration it is not necessary if you take the steps I did. For example the graphics card from Scan computers cost around £170 (MSI GTX 560Ti twin frozen11, item no LN37607) if anyone is interested. I even went into which intel processor was best for my video as well as stills work. The Intel i5 is supposed to be ok for stills but not for video as well so I went for the Intel i7 (LN 41754 @ £251).

As you can start to see a lot of work went into getting each component as I said ,those 2 items alone came to approx £420 and you could have bought a computer for that. The total build was well into four figures and that was again a self build, heavens knows what it would have cost to be professionally built, I hate to think.

So going back to my original statement, if you have the right computer with the right components in it there is no need for calibration or at least that is what I found

Realspeed
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My systems are purpose built, not off the shelf and are always calibrated. I have the same gfx card as well.
 
for the record im running a machine built for photo work with an i7-2600k and Ati 7850. i still use a spyder3 to calibrate both of my IPS panels and it makes a huge difference over the out of the box settings.
 
realspeed said:
I stand by what I originally said about calibration it is not necessary if you take the steps I did.
Click to expand...
Even a pre-calibrated monitors require calibration. I had 2 Dell U2410s which have a factory calibrated sRGB mode. Side by side, they were slightly different shades. Now you can't tell them apart after calibration.

Calibration has NOTHING to do with the PC you are hooked up to (assuming DVI/HDMI), it has everything to do with making sure the screen responds correctly to the values that it is being sent.
 
Quote " it has everything to do with making sure the screen responds correctly to the values that it is being sent."unquote

Your words not mine Andy, if you don't have a good graphics card the computer will never send the correct values as you put it.

All I can say is that with my Dell IPS screen coupled with that graphics card and a purpose built computer I haven't had any need to calibrate. It seems logical to me that there is no point in using a good graphics card sending data to a monitor which "guesses" which 3 colour mix is correct for each pixel. Also there is no point in having an IPS screen which selects the right individual colour per pixel backed up with a useless graphics card.

Bit like saying putting a high powered engine into a clapped out car body, or visa versa.

We all have our own thoughts on the subject and I can only speak as I find.

**Mod Edit**
Please do not advertise out side of classifieds
Thanks
 
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no offense but thats twoddle.

a monitor has no concept of what is actually being displayed, it will display what your graphics card thinks is correct but again your graphics card has no idea what the display is actually showing, maybe the backlight in the screen is faded, the rgb levels are skewed etc etc.

the only way to show your graphics card what is actually being displayed is to use a hardware calibrator so that a profile can be generated to correct any discrepancies.

show me a design/print studio that doesnt calibrate, even on mac pros with top end IPS displays costing several £1000's.
 
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Neil

You are entitled to your beliefs which I respect, I have stated my thoughts and I must be lucky as my monitor needs no calibration.

As for your analogy please bear in mind the difference how an IPS screen is designed

Realspeed
 
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neil_g said:
no offense but thats twoddle.

a monitor has no concept of what is actually being displayed, it will display what your graphics card thinks is correct but again your graphics card has no idea what the display is actually showing, maybe the backlight in the screen is faded, the rgb levels are skewed etc etc.

the only way to show your graphics card what is actually being displayed is to use a hardware calibrator so that a profile can be generated to correct any discrepancies.

show me a design/print studio that doesnt calibrate, even on mac pros with top end IPS displays costing several £1000's.
Click to expand...

I have to agree and just to clarify again I use Dell IPS monitors, the same gfx card as you in a purpose built machine. I still have to calibrate.
 
realspeed said:
Quote " it has everything to do with making sure the screen responds correctly to the values that it is being sent."unquote

Your words not mine Andy, if you don't have a good graphics card the computer will never send the correct values as you put it.
Click to expand...
If the monitor is connected digitally (HDMI, DVI, DisplayPort), the quality of the graphics card has NO influence on the numbers that are sent. A £25 graphics card send the same numbers to the screen as a £500 graphics card.

realspeed said:
All I can say is that with my Dell IPS screen coupled with that graphics card and a purpose built computer I haven't had any need to calibrate.
Click to expand...
If you haven't calibrated it, you don't know whether you have any need to calibrate. A picture that "looks nice" is something completely different to one that is correct.
 
23 inch Dell Ultrasharp

Wouldnt mind another one to go with it but it's a great price/quality compromise
 
julianhj said:
Dell 2408WFP here. Had an issue with the first one, then hassles trying to swap it out. It has issues with the DVI ports going on the blink/failing, but I'm waiting for the warranty to be close to running out, as mine is cosmetically perfect, and any replacement will be some random refurb with no guarentees on cosmetic condition.
Click to expand...

I had one fail so it wouldn't turn off using the button just at the wall. I rang them and they sent a replacement next day and collected the original one. The replacement looked as good as new. No hassle and the monitor had been nearly 2 years old.

The 2408WFP is a cracker and I just missed out on a bargain one on here not too long ago to give me three for the office machine (schematic, PCB layout, firmware code at the same time plus a 17" monitor hanging from the ceiling for email :D)


Wa going to get the Apple thunderbolt 27" display a few weeks ago but the USB ports are USB2 not 3 so I didn't bother. Waiting for an update.....
 
U3011 here :)
Can't fault Dell and their 3year business warranty :)
Had my 2407 for 6 years and apart from one dead pixel and sticky power button - common issue with that model, had no problems.
 
Its looking very much like Dell have the market share on the mid range IPS monitors for photo editing.......

I had a little trip to scan and the 2410 looks a great monitor and its more than obvious when you compare the monitor with other brands...:|

Here's hoping I dont get stung


Thank you for taking the time to post what you guys and gals use:thumbs:

Much appreciated
 
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still on 2x Dell 2405, waiting for an opportunity to change but they still have yet to break down.
 
Been using the HP ZR22w for 2.5 years now and it's difficult to fault really (1080x1920 21.5" IPS panel).

If I upgrade (hopefully within 2 years) then it will most likely be 27" IPS with 1440x2560 panel - I notice that Dell & NEC do some with this spec in the £500-£900 range currently.
 
Dell2209wa...not had any issues apart from something that look like a strand of hair behind the screen.
 
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